Expedition Leaders - Betchart Expeditions


Exceptional natural history expeditions, safaris & deluxe tours.

Expedition Leaders

Michael Jackson
is a Naturalist, science teacher (retired), kayaker and techie. Such a big fan of Galapagos natural history, he wrote the book on it.
Born and raised in the UK, he worked in the Galapagos islands after earning an MA in Applied Biology at Cambridge. After guiding there for a year, he became the zoologist for the Cambridge Darwin Centenary Galapagos expedition. Moving to Calgary for his Masters, he wrote the first edition of "Galapagos: A Natural History". He loves the outdoors, and leading expeditions to his favorite islands.

Thomas Love
is a South American expert. He has led expeditions to South America since 1981, when he first led a trip to Chile and Easter Island. He is a popular Betchart Leader and has led trips to see the Total Solar Eclipse in Chile, Antarctica and Mexico’s Copper Canyon earlier this year.
He has worked in the central Andes for almost four decades, and met Margaret Betchart during his graduate studies in Arequipa, Peru. He has a Ph.D from UC Davis, and when not doing research in South America, has recently retired from a career teaching Anthropology at Linfield College. Tom has written on energy, human ecology and rural livelihood issues in many publications, most recently The Independent Republic of Arequipa: Making Regional Culture in the Andes (2017, U. of Texas Press). More info: Click Here!

Joe Llama
is an astronomer at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. Joe's undergraduate degree is in Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, followed by a Ph.D. in astronomy, completed in 2014. He grew up in south Penbrokeshire, and speaks with a slight Welsh accent. He has spent a great amount of time in the countryside learning and photographing nature and the night sky. During his time in St. Andrews University he made numerous trips to Tromso, Norway to photograph the Northern Lights. He has occasionally seen Northern Lights over the univerisity during his eight years studying.
Dr Llama studies the magnetic fields of both stars and exoplants and the interaction between the two. In particularl, he searches for star-planet interactions that occur between very planets close-in to their parent star. Some of these planets are the size of Jupiter, but are located closer that Mercury is to the Sun.
Joe has lead numerous trips to see the aurora and co-lead the 2024 trip to Alaska for nights of aurora viewing and many daytime activities. More info: Click Here!

Tyler Nordgren
is a professional astronomer and artist. He holds a Ph.D. in Astronomy from Cornell University. For two decades he was a professional astronomer at the U.S. Naval Observatory, Lowell Observatory, and the University of Redlands in California. Since 2007 he has worked with the National Park Service to promote dark skies education and outreach, writing the book "Stars Above, Earth Below: A guide to astronomy in the national parks". For the 2017 Great American Eclipse he wrote the book, "SUN MOON EARTH: The History of Solar Eclipses from Omens of Doom to Einstein and Exoplanets", describing the vast array of social and scientific influences eclipses have had throughout history.
As an artist, his vintage-style "Half the park is after dark" posters are on sale in state and national parks across the country. His "See the Sun and Moon align with You" posters for the 2017 and 2024 total eclipses have been acquired by the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Dr. Nordgren’s work has also appeared at NASA Headquarters and the White House where he designed the poster for President Obama's White House Astronomy Night in 2015.
His work also appears on Mars as a member of a small team of scientists and artists that turned NASA's Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity Mars rover camera calibration targets into working sundials.
And, he creates the unique designs for our Expedition posters and group T-shirts!
He lives in Ithaca, New York, and his work can be found at www.SpaceArtTravelBureau.com

Jim Bell
is actively involved with the Mars program and is a professor of Astronomy at Arizona State University. He did his PhD research at Mauna Kea Observatory on Mars surface mineralogy and climate variations using infrared and optical telescopes. He has been a member of the Science Teams of the NASA Mars Pathfinder, Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) and Comet Nucleus tour (CONTOUR). He has been Principal Investigator in the NASA Mars Data Analysis and Planetary Geology and Geophysics programs. He has published four popular books on asteroids, Mars, and the Moon, including Postcards from Mars. Jim also represented the Planetary Society on multiple Total Eclipse Expeditions. Full Bio: Click Here!

Bryan Bates
is a long time educator interested in Native American sky knowledge, and created a Archaeoastronomy cirriculum for his students. He secured a grant from the NASA Space Grant, via NAU Physics Department, and developed the course manual he used for several years and is now, in part, being used at ASU. Bryan taught archaeoastronomy at CCC for 10+ years, NAU summer teacher programs, and has presented at numerous conferences including Flagstaff’s Festival of Science where he served on the Board for 10+ years.
He continued his studies with native tribes and teaching archaeoastronomy. An avid backpacker, river runner and educator, he has also been a youth counselor for teens at the local Navaho reservation interweaving Native science with traditional science.
Now retired, he continues to spread knowledge as a guide and naturalist. He has led expeditions on the Colorado Plateau, in the Rocky Mountains, and Alaska. With a BA in Native American studies and MA in Environmental Science, he has taught Biology, Environmental Science, Natural History, and Archeoastronomy
See Full Biography

Rick Baldridge
has been involved with SF Bay Area astronomy since grade school and has been on the Board of the Peninsula Astronomical Society for 43 years, serving as President and currently Vice-President. As an advanced amateur astronomer and member of I.O.T.A., Rick has discovered dozens of double stars, measured the diameter of many asteroids and has six NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) credits. He is currently on Staff at UCO/Lick Observatory as a Public Programs Telescope Operator, running the 36 inch Great James Lick Refractor.

Chris Carpenter has been a popular leader of Betchart China Expeditions since 1994 as well as trips to Burma, Tibet, Nepal, Vietnam, Xinjiang & Hunza.
Chris was a lecturer in biology and environmental science for the Wildlands Studies Program at UC Monterey and teaches at Payap International University in Chiang Mai, Thailand. In connection with this work, he leads university field studies courses in Thailand, China, and the Himalayan region. Chris looks forward to sharing the spectacular landscapes and fascinating cultures with you.

David Wimpfheimer is a naturalist and biologist with a passion for the birds and natural history of the American West. David has been leading trips and expeditions for almost forty years, teaching classes for the Point Reyes Field Institute, Smithsonian Institution, Wild Wings, Road Scholar and the California Academy of Sciences. He has led a wide variety of tours for Betchart Expeditions since 1991 enthusiastically sharing his expertise of birds, marine mammals and terrestrial ecology in Alaska, Mexico, Scotland, Iceland and many regions of California. Click here for more information!

Duncan Foley is a specialist in geology and natural history. He is usually guiding our Columbia & Snake River expeditions, explaining the dramatic and unique landscape.
More about his other passion: here!

Andre Potochnik is a field geologist who received his Ph.D. from Arizona State University. Andre has served in the Adaptive Management Work Group to improve operations of the Glen Canyon Dam for the benefit of the Colorado River ecosystem. He leads whitewater rafting trips down the Colorado and other rivers in the west, and has led Betchart Expeditions to the Canyonlands, Grand Canyon, and Death Valley.

Ted Elliman holds Master's degrees from Antioch University/New England Graduate School and the Yale School of Forestry and has a varied background in the environmental field. He lived in China where he was engaged as a forest researcher for the Yunnan Branch of the Chinese Academy Sciences and the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanic Garden. Ted has also worked for ten years as a plant ecologist in the U.S. doing rare plant surveys, plant community studies, and conservation planning for the National Park Service on the Appalachian Trail and the Boston Harbor Islands. Ted is the Vegetation Management Coordinator for the New England Wild Flower Society. He is a popular leader of Backroads China Expeditions in Yunnan Province.

Victor Kuzevanov leads our botanic explorations of Kamchatka and Lake Baikal, Russia. Victor is currently an associate Professor at Baikal State University, Scientific Advisor in field of Ecology at International Baikal Winter Urban University and Scientific Supevisor in field of Ecology at International Baikal Winter Urban University. He was the Director of the Irkutsk Botanic Garden in Siberia and has conducted research on many of the endangered plants of the region. He has created a seed and gene bank of local plants. Victor has an outgoing and engaging personality that has made him a very popular leader of our Lake Baikal Expeditions since 1994 and Kamchatka groups since 2001.

Lloyd Esler is a teacher of history and botany who is a resident (and sometime city councilor) of Invercargill, the southernmost city of New Zealand. Lloyd is the author of many books and has a regular history column in the local newspaper.
He has been a tour guide for 20 years and has extensively explored Stewart Island, Fiordland and the Sub Antarctic islands. He takes a keen interest in New Zealand's flora, especially its ferns, seaweeds, alpine habitats, and lowland forests. He has introduced the endemic flora of New Zealand to many interested groups.

Mark Walters is a classicist and naturalist with two MA degrees from Cambridge University. Mark lives in Naples where he consults on a number of environmental issues, writes for a number of publications, and edits and translates scientific papers for the University of Naples for publication into English. Mark leads our botanic trips around the Mediterranean with an eye trained for archaeological sites and how plants were used throughout history.

Expeditions by Location

Africa

Antarctica

Asia

Australia & New Zealand

Central & South America

Europe, Russia & the Arctic

North America